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Schools can eliminate wasteful financial tasks with cash counters

The benefits of cash and check scanners speak directly to many of the most pressing issues facing public schools in the U.S. Students in K-12 institutions typically purchase their daily lunches in cash as opposed to any other payment method. However, as states continue to cut large amounts of money from their education budgets, many of these organizations are looking for ways to reduce overhead costs and eliminate back office inefficiencies. The need to manually count the cash received from student lunches every day can lead to laborious tasks that take more time than they should.

According to the online publication DNAInfo Chicago, budget issues in the city's public school system forced the Chicago Board of Education to close 50 schools in 2013. As a result, the students at those institutions have since been transferred to neighboring schools. In many cases, this has led to a substantial increase in classroom size. A larger student population may even make it more difficult for the employees responsible for counting the income received every day through cafeteria sales.

Payment behaviors may even have an indirect impact on childhood obesity rates. A recent article from NPR highlighted research from the journal Obesity that found students who pay for their daily lunches with debit cards or other forms of electronic payment are more likely to eat junk food. However, those who pay in cash were three times more likely to buy vegetables.

These findings may lead schools and parents to encourage children to use traditional currency in the cafeteria every day. Investing in an advanced cash counter is a smart way for administrators to avoid the need to assign employees to the task of manually counting money in the back office every day.